Gorman is one of the nation’s leading affordable housing developers, where feasibility studies form the foundation of every project. Because feasibility impacts design, cost, and approvals, inefficiencies at this stage have outsized consequences.
By adopting Arcol, Gorman transformed its workflow, cutting feasibility timelines in half and giving its executive team a clearer, more collaborative process. Much of this shift has been driven by David (Dave) Cincotta, Project Designer, and Nathaniel (Nate) Stark, Director of Design, who together have championed Arcol across their architecture, construction, and development teams.
Challenge: A Process Full of Bottlenecks
Before adopting Arcol, Gorman’s teams relied on PDFs, screenshots, SketchUp, and disconnected spreadsheets. Updates meant duplicating work across systems, and mistakes often slipped downstream.
“We’d be rushing to get something out to the development team and would miss number changes,” recalls Dave. “They’d come back saying, ‘Which numbers are right?’ and we’d have to scramble to fix it. Not great.”
David shared how leaders at Gorman—like Nate, who oversees design output across the firm—saw how this constant back-and-forth slowed progress and undermined confidence:
“We knew we were spending too much time reconciling numbers instead of designing. Everyone wanted clarity, but the tools weren’t set up to provide it.”
Solution: Fast Adoption and Real Results
Gorman turned to Arcol for a tool that was intuitive, collaborative, and accessible. The team was struck by how quickly they saw results.
“We were up and running in less than a week. It shocked me how fast we started seeing a return,” says Cincotta.
Instead of juggling multiple tools and endless email chains, Gorman now works from a single, live, browser-based model. Stakeholders can visualize the latest design and understand its implications in real time.
“Arcol is construction, architecture, and development all in one package. It does everything you need from design to cost estimates and gets everyone aligned at the start.”
With Arcol: Twice the Speed, Half the Rework
Since implementing Arcol, Gorman estimates they have doubled the efficiency of their feasibility process. “With Arcol, we’re moving twice as fast and the numbers are always right. What used to take us weeks now happens in the first week and everyone’s on the same page from day one,” says Cincotta."
Other notable improvements include:
- Speed: The Gorman team estimates they are twice as efficient during feasibility, cutting their time spent here in half.
- Accuracy: Smart labels eliminate manual errors; rework reduced by about 50 percent.
- Collaboration: Architecture, construction, and development all engage and align from day one, resulting in smoother projects.
- Confidence: Leaders trust the outputs and feel part of the process, accelerating approvals.
Feasibility is such a critical stage because it’s where work is won and it sets the tone for the entire project. Without everyone in the file together, it was difficult for the team to align on the same page and risk, uncertainty and inefficiencies easily crept into projects. With Arcol, it’s a fundamentally different outlook for projects:
“When we have everyone on board from day one and we have a design on day two… that gets everyone's initial thoughts, feelings, comments, concerns addressed immediately instead of the the typical [back and forth that takes weeks] so everyone can be looking at things all at once right away.”
Beyond project efficiency, the individual impact has been profound.
“Arcol freed up 20 to 30 hours a week for me,” Cincotta explains. “Instead of chasing errors in spreadsheets, I’m back to doing higher-value work like technical drawings, design thinking, the stuff that actually moves projects forward.”
Cincotta also cited reviews from leaders like Nate, Gorman's Director of Design:
“These boards look like something we would have spent days polishing, but I know they were built in hours. That level of quality, that quickly, is a game-changer.”
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, the Gorman team sees Arcol playing an even larger role in their process. Today, it anchors on feasibility and pre-design. Tomorrow, it could expand into detailed drawings and construction documentation, becoming the single source of truth across the project lifecycle.
“Arcol [to me] is the perfect tool … it is construction, architecture and development all in one package … and it can bring all these disciplines together to see very early, very quickly and very accurately.”